No. 1 Gryphons blank the Tommies at CIS women’s hockey championship

CALGARY (CIS) – The number one ranked Guelph Gryphons took a commanding 3-0 victory over the St. Thomas Tommies in the first quarterfinal match-up of the 2016 CIS Women's Hockey Championships on Thursday, March 17.

The win qualifies Guelph for a semi-final berth against the winner of the quarterfinal between UBC and McGill, taking place Saturday, March 19 at 2 p.m. MT live on SportsnetONE. The Tommies will play in the consolation semifinal Friday, March 18 at 11 a.m. MT against the loser of UBC and McGill. Both games are available live on the web at www.cis-sic.tv.

The Gryphons suffered a heartbreaking 4-3 loss in their quarterfinal match-up against St. FX in the 2015 CIS Championships, after they let a 3-0 lead slip away. They made no mistake this year, as their defence and goaltending were rock solid throughout the entire game.

"It's nice to get a win, I'm not sure the last time a Guelph team actually won a game at Nationals," said Gryphons head coach, Rachel Flanagan. "We learned a lot from the experience last year. We felt like after the first period we had some chances and we came away with no score. For us it was just a matter of sticking with the process and trust that it's going to come."

The Gryphons' top players came up big for them today, with an 18 save shutout from the CIS MVP goaltender, Valerie Lamenta and a two goal game for their regular season scoring leader, Averi Nooren.

"Val has been outstanding, she's young but she's very mature for her age," said Flanagan. "She had to be sharp today; she was tested early and came up with a few big saves."

Defence pairing, Jessica Pellegrino and Katherine Bailey combined for two assists each for the Gryphons. St. Thomasnetminder Taylor Cook recorded 26 saves.

After a scoreless first period, Gryphons' centre Marcie Landman opened the scoring early in the second, as she beat the Tommies goaltender up high with a backhand shot from in tight.

Nooren added another goal at 17:21 of the second with a wrist shot that squeaked through low glove side. She picked up her second of the game in the final frame, this time beating Cook blocker side with a screened shot from the high slot.

"It's tough to come in and play the number one team in the first game, it's going to be a difficult game for sure," said head coach, Peter Murphy. "I thought we had a good first period, we played with them. In the second period it was all about who scored first, if we'd scored first maybe it's a bit of a different game."

Taylor Cook was named Player of the Game for the Tommies, and Averi Nooren earned the award for the Gryphons.

SCORING SUMMARY

FIRST PERIOD

No scoring.

PENALTIES:

Thomson (STU) slashing, 6:21.

SECOND PERIOD

1. GUE MarcieLandman (1) (Jessica Pellegrino), 3:05
2. GUE Averi Nooren (1) (Katherine Bailey, Jessica Pellegrino), 17:21

PENALTIES:

Marcelline (STU) holding, 4:09;
Bailey (GUE) roughing, 4:46;
Lee (GUE) hooking, 11:19;
Squires (STU) hooking, 13:48;
Jackson (STU) interference, 15:54;
St. James (GUE) hit to the head, 16:22.

THIRD PERIOD

3. GUE Averi Nooren (2) (Katherine Bailey), 8:35

PENALTIES:

Marcelline (STU) tripping, 4:51.

GOALS (by period)
GUE 0-2-1: 3
STU 0-0-0: 0

SHOTS ON GOAL (by period)
GUE 13-7-8: 29
STU 6-6-6: 18

POWER PLAY:
GUE 0-5
STU 0-3

GOALTENDERS
GUE – Valerie Lamenta (W, 1-0, 18 shots, 18 saves, 0 GA, 60:00)
STU – Taylor Cook (L, 0-1, 29 shots, 26 saves, 3 GA, 60:00)

PLAYERS OF THE GAME:
GUE: Averi Nooren
STU: Taylor Cook

ATTENDANCE: 2096

LENGTH: 1:55

SCHEDULE & RESULTS (all times MOUNTAIN TIME)

Thursday,March 17
11:00 Quarter-final 1: Guelph 3, St. Thomas 0
15:00 Quarter-final 2: No. 5 McGill vs. No. 4 UBC (www.CIS-SIC.tv)

Friday, March 18
11:00 Consolation 1: St. Thomas vs. Loser QF 2 (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
15:00 Quarter-final 3: No. 6 Western vs. No. 3 Saint Mary's (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
19:00 Quarter-final 4: No. 7 Calgary vs. No. 2 Montreal (www.CIS-SIC.tv)

Saturday, March 19
10:00 Consolation 2: Loser QF 3 vs. Loser QF 4 (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
14:00 Semifinal 1: Guelpj vs. Winner QF 2 (Sportsnet ONE / www.CIS-SIC.tv) *
17:30 Semifinal 2: Winner QF 3 vs. Winner QF 4 (Sportsnet ONE / www.CIS-SIC.tv) *

Sunday, March 20
8:45 Bronze (www.CIS-SIC.tv) (at Joan Snyder Arena)
9:00 5th-place game (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
12:30 Final (Sportsnet 360 & TVA Sports 2 / www.CIS-SIC.tv) *

* Webcast of the semifinals & final are on pay-per-view basis.